Mendocino Board of Supes agenda: Health care reform, Teeter program

A presentation on federal health care reform, continued discussion about cutting the Brooktrails subdivision from the county's Teeter program and a change to the county's fee schedule are items on the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors' Monday and Tuesday meeting agendas.

At 1:30 p.m. Monday, the board will hear a presentation on implementing the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed into law by President Barrack Obama just over two years ago.

The law becomes effective Jan. 1, 2014, and requires "nearly all U.S. citizens and legal residents ... to have qualifying health insurance coverage or pay a tax penalty," according to a summary. Other key issues include health insurance exchanges to be run by states, the federal government or a state-federal partnership, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows states to decide whether to expand Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California).

Governor Jerry Brown convened a special legislative session to prepare for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, including the Medi-Cal expansion, which could make about 1 million more people eligible, according to the summary.

"The governor's proposals for Medi-Cal expansion will have significant implications for the manner in which County health programs are administered and for Mendocino County as a whole," according to the summary.

At 11 a.m. Tuesday, the board will consider forming an ad-hoc committee on the Brooktrails Community Services District and Brooktrails subdivision.

The board last month discussed cutting Brooktrails from the county's encumbered Teeter property tax distribution program, and directed county staff to instead come back to the board with a recommendation "to form an ad-hoc committee that would broaden its scope to providing information on issues surrounding the subdivision in general," according to a summary.

The idea of cutting the subdivision from the Teeter program was proposed to lessen the effect on the county's general fund of an increasing number of tax-delinquent lots in the Brooktrails subdivision that have proven unsellable.

Under the Teeter Plan, the county pays districts and schools that get a portion of the county's property taxes upfront, so that delinquent taxes don't impact them. An increasing number of tax-defaulted properties in the subdivision prompted the board in June to take steps to remove it from Teeter, with county staff warning that unmarketable properties become a liability to the county's general fund.

At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the board will hold a hearing to consider raising three fees and eliminating two others in its Agriculture department. The board will also consider establishing four new fees, raising two others, reducing one and eliminating another in its Environmental Health division.